Despite computers, there’s still interest in ham radio

Posted July 31, 2015 by R.D. Hohenfeldt

You’d think that with all the computers in homes, all the smartphones in the hands of everybody from children through senior citizens, all the internet, the world wide web, the forums and blogs and Twitter and Facebook and email and chat boxes and social media, there would be absolutely no interest in an old-time hobby like ham radio.

“We saw a dip,” Steve Miller, a former president of the Rolla Regional Amateur Radio Society, acknowledged on a cool Sunday morning in late June after having stayed up all night contacting other ham radio operators worldwide for the annual Field Day.

That dip in ham radio interest occurred at the beginning of the home computer era when the technically minded who would have gone into the various facets of ham radio instead began exploring computers and the codes that operated them.

Posted July 31, 2015 by AJ4MQ

The FCC has dropped the other shoe — hard — in the case of Michael Guernsey, KZ8O (ex-ND8V), of Parchment, Michigan, imposing the full $22,000 fine it had proposed in 2014 for causing intentional interference with other Amateur Radio communications and for failing to identify. In a Forfeiture Orderissued on July 22, 2015 — exactly 1 year from its Notice ofApparent Liability (NAL) proposing the hefty fine — the FCC cited Guernsey’s “long history of causing interference to other Amateur Radio operators” and noted that he “has been warned repeatedly in writing.” Guernsey’s interactions with the FCC Enforcement Bureau date back well over a decade, and, at one point agreed to have his license suspended for 9 months.

“Despite repeated warnings from the [Enforcement] Bureau regarding his on-air behavior, Mr Guernsey’s violations included the deliberate playing of music on top of the transmissions of other amateur operators in order to obstruct their ability to communicate on the frequency,” the FCC recounted in the July 22 Forfeiture Order. “Mr Guernsey further used various animal noises to prevent the communications of other stations with whom he had a longstanding and well-documented dispute.”

Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Fee to Disappear in September

Posted July 30, 2015 by AJ4MQ

The Amateur Radio vanity call sign regulatory fee is set to disappear in the next few weeks. According to the best-available information from FCC sources, the first day that applicants will be able to file a vanity application without having to pay a fee is Thursday, September 3. Indeciding earlier this year to drop the regulatory fee components for Amateur Radio vanitycall signs and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) applications, the FCC said it was doing so to save money and personnel resources. The Commission asserted that it costs more of both to process the regulatory fees and issue refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee payment.

“Our costs have increased over time, and now that the costs exceed the amount of the regulatory fee, the increased relative administrative cost supports eliminating this regulatory fee category,” the FCC said in itsReport and Order, which appeared on July 21 in The FederalRegister. “Once [it’s] eliminated, these licensees will no longer be financially burdened with such payments, and the Commission will no longer incur these administrative costs that exceed the fee payments.”

The FCC raised the Amateur Service vanity call sign regulatory fee from $16.10 to its current $21.40 for the 10-year license term in 2014. The $5.30 increase was the largest such fee hike in many years. In a typical fiscal year, the FCC collected on the order of $250,000 in vanity call sign regulatory fees.

The FCC said the revenue it would otherwise collect from such regulatory fees “will be proportionally assessed on other wireless fee categories.” Congress has mandated that the FCC collect nearly $340 million in regulatory fees from all services in fiscal year 2015.

For Sale: Yaesu FT-950 Radio (original package).

Posted July 30, 2015 by Ken/N4KS

For sale: Yaesu FT-950. I am the original owner. Perfect condition.
Includes microphone, original carton, power cord, manual, and
amplifier interface cable. This is a great HF rig and the only reason
I am selling it is, I upgraded to a FTdx5000MP. $895.kandkstuber@gmail.com or 386-689-4967. 73, Ken/N4KS

8N23WSJ On the Air from the World Jamboree in Japan

Posted July 30, 2015 by AJ4MQ

Despite two typhoons in the past few weeks, the World Scout Jamboree is up and running in Kirara-hama, Yamaguchi, Japan. More than 30,000 Scouts and leaders from 161 countriesaround the world are engaging in two weeks of activities and adventure, from July 28 to August 8.
Along with all the Scouting activities, including a JOTA-JOTI Plaza (Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet) in the Science Program Area, the amateur radio station 8N23WSJ is on the air.

The 8 is the designation for a special event call sign and the N stands for Nippon, which means Japan. Since this is the 23rd World Scout Jamboree, the last letters in the call sign are 23WSJ.

Posted July 28, 2015 by AJ4MQ

Keep those letters coming! To date, according to the ARRL Regulatory Affairs Office, more than 4300 letters have been received from League members since the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 grassroots campaign began in March, all urging their members in both branches of Congress to become cosponsors of the bill. More letters are in the queue, and the correspondence seems to be having the desired effect in terms of additional cosponsors. The League has a combined web page to provide a clearing house for all information on the identical pieces of legislation now in play in the US House and Senate. The Act would direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land-use restrictions. The FCC has been reluctant to extend those legal protections without direction from Congress.

ARRL Headquarters has forwarded 3433 letters to 402 individual US House members, seeking their cosponsorship of H.R. 1301. As of July 23, H.R. 1301 had attracted 93 cosponsors, with 7 signing on since mid-July. The nascent campaign on behalf of the identical US Senate bill, S. 1685, has so far garnered more than 900 letters destined to 77 individual US Senate members. To help maintain the momentum, many ARRL Division Directors have been taking a letter-generating tool to conventions and hamfests.

KB6NU’s Column

Posted July 27, 2015 by AJ4MQ

“Just a quick question – Are you still in the thinking stage about getting an Elecraft K3? Great rigs, aren’t they?

“What I would like you to think about, though, is how many contacts you log in one year’s time. If you log 100 per year (check your log) then your cost will be $50 per contact for that year. If you log 500, then your cost will be $10 per contact. If you keep that rig for three years, and log 500 contacts over that time, then you will have spent $10 per contact.

“Now, consider what that rig will be worth in three years. Will there be something come along that just blows the K3 away in terms of performance?”

Party Balloon Carrying Ham Radio Payload Circles Southern Hemisphere a Second Time

Posted July 25, 2015 by AJ4MQ

After travelling for more than 110,800 km (68,696 mi) aloft, the record-setting pico balloon PS-46, carrying an Amateur Radio payload, completed its second circumnavigation of the Southern Hemisphere, before descending into the Indian Ocean on July 18 due to bad weather. The helium balloon and its solar-powered 25 mW payload were launched on May 23 by Andy Nguyen, VK3YT.

“It was an exciting but also an exhausting eight weeks for many hard-core trackers,” Nguyen said. “Their perseverance ensured the balloon was tracked almost around the clock. It was hard work, and the little party balloon was becoming part of the daily routine for many of us.”

More than 20 “regulars” were among those who tracked the high-altitude flight, monitoring the payload’s 20 meter signals in WSPR and JT9 modes. Stations in Virginia and Florida, as well as in Peru and Argentina were among those hearing the balloon’s beacon.

Posted July 24, 2015 by AJ4MQ

The FCC has dropped the other shoe — hard — in the case of Michael Guernsey, KZ8O (ex-ND8V), of Parchment, Michigan, imposing the full $22,000 fine it had proposed in 2014 for causing intentional interference with other Amateur Radio communications and for failing to identify. In a Forfeiture Orderissued on July 22, 2015 — exactly 1 year from its Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) proposing the hefty fine — the FCC cited Guernsey’s “long history of causing interference to other Amateur Radio operators” and noted that he “has been warned repeatedly in writing.” Guernsey’s interactions with the FCC Enforcement Bureau date back well over a decade, and, at one point agreed to have his license suspended for 9 months.

“Despite repeated warnings from the [Enforcement] Bureau regarding his on-air behavior, Mr Guernsey’s violations included the deliberate playing of music on top of the transmissions of other amateur operators in order to obstruct their ability to communicate on the frequency,” the FCC recounted in the July 22 Forfeiture Order. “Mr Guernsey further used various animal noises to prevent the communications of other stations with whom he had a longstanding and well-documented dispute.”

FCC Proposes Fining Georgia Ham $1000 for Failing to Identify

Posted July 24, 2015 by AJ4MQ

The FCC has proposed fining a Georgia ham $1000 for alleged failure to properly identify. David J. Tolassi, W4BHV, had been warned last August about not following the Commission’s Part 97 ID rules. The FCC said his “deliberate disregard” of that warning warranted the proposed penalty.

“Mr Tolassi…has a history of failing to comply with the rules governing the Amateur RadioService,” the FCC said in a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL), released on July 22. As the NAL recounted, agents from the FCC’s Atlanta Office used direction-finding techniques to locate the source of a signal on 14.313 MHz to Tolassi’s residence in Ringold, Georgia.

“The agents monitored and recorded transmissions during which Mr Tolassi failed to transmit his assigned call sign,” the FCC said. “The agents interviewed Mr Tolassi later that evening, and, while he admitted operating that evening, he denied making the unidentified transmissions.”

Party Balloon Carrying Ham Radio Payload Circles Southern Hemisphere a Second Time

Posted July 23, 2015 by HamCation

After travelling for more than 110,800 km (68,696 mi) aloft, the record-setting pico balloon PS-46, carrying an Amateur Radio payload, completed its second circumnavigation of the Southern Hemisphere, before descending into the Indian Ocean on July 18 due to bad weather. The helium balloon and its solar-powered 25 mW payload were launched on May 23 by Andy Nguyen, VK3YT.

“It was an exciting but also an exhausting eight weeks for many hard-core trackers,” Nguyen said. “Their perseverance ensured the balloon was tracked almost around the clock. It was hard work, and the little party balloon was becoming part of the daily routine for many of us.”

More than 20 “regulars” were among those who tracked the high-altitude flight, monitoring the payload’s 20 meter signals in WSPR and JT9 modes. Stations in Virginia and Florida, as well as in Peru and Argentina were among those hearing the balloon’s beacon.

The last station to hear the balloon was Vince Harrison, ZS6BTY, in Pretoria, South Africa. The balloon had been at an altitude of about 9000 meters (29,530 feet), but quickly descended into the ocean.

Amateur Radio Volunteers Support Michigan’s Premier Bicycle Tour

Posted July 23, 2015 by HamCation

A team of Michigan Amateur Radio volunteers supported communication on July 11 for the 39th running of the One Helluva Ride (OHR) bicycle tour. The annual event, sponsored by the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society (AABTS), kicks off from and ends at the Chelsea, Michigan, fairgrounds and offers rides ranging from 15 to 100 miles. The longer routes pass through the town of Hell. This marked the 25th year that members of the Arrow Communication Association (ARROW) provided the communication infrastructure and “SAG” support to riders falling behind or running into trouble.

The ARROW group had support from the Chelsea Amateur Radio Club (CARC) and the Livingston County Amateur Radio Klub (LARK) and made use of the CARC’s 2 meter repeater, which is situated to offer coverage to the entire race route. Many of the participating hams are ARES or RACES.

During the race, the radio amateurs provided SAG vehicles plus personnel to ride along in AABTS vehicles. Services they offer include spare tubes to those suffering flats, foot pumps, food and water for those riders who have run out, and transportation back to the starting point for those experiencing mechanical failure or suffering exhaustion. Hams also are placed at each of the three food stops.

Posted July 22, 2015 by AJ4MQ

The ARRL will benefit from the largesse of the late Amateur Radio satellite pioneer Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR (ex-W6HDO), and his late wife Mable Vierthaler. The League this month received the first major installment of its portion of the couple’s estate. Buttschardt also designated AMSAT to receive a similar share. Buttschardt died in 2006, and his wife in 2013. The funds will go into the ARRL Endowment Fund. ARRL Development Manager Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD, has estimated that the ultimate gift will be in the vicinity of $280,000.

Buttschardt, a long-time Project OSCAR leader, AMSAT member, and ARRL Life Member lived in Morro Bay, California. He was 75 when he died on July 30, 2006. Just days before, the Project OSCAR Board of Directors awarded him with its Lifetime Achievement Award — its highest honor — for his contributions to Amateur Satellite Radio.